The large whale eyes of the Whale King, Shickler, moved toward Cale. Cale was smiling.
‘What a strong pressure.’
Shickler was the king of the ocean. He had a presence that could not be compared to the king of a kingdom that oversaw a small region of the Western continent. That was why Cale was starting to smile even more.
Shickler’s pupils started to cloud as he began to smile. Cale stepped back a bit and opened up his arms.
“How about we have our discussion above the deck?”
Psssssssssssh.
Water vapor filled the air as three individuals quietly approached the ship.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The three people gently landed on the deck. Cale could hear Raon’s voice in his head at that time.
- Dragons are much more beautiful and glorious!
Cale understood Raon’s feelings and patted his head. These three pure-blooded Whales were extremely beautiful.
‘This one is completely stiff.’
Choi Han had stiffened up after seeing the Whale Tribe people.
Cale followed Choi Han’s gaze and looked at each of the three people in front of him. The future Whale Queen, Witira. She was the same as usual.
The Killer Whale with white hair. This man was probably Archie, the greatest warrior of the Whale Tribe. He had an important role in the Whale Tribe arc in the novel.
He was the one who beat Lock up in the novel, and he was someone who was violent with a bad personality. However, his loyalty was quite strong.
“It has been a while since I’ve come down to the southern ocean.”
This old, yet cool voice made Choi Han turn his head. Shickler, the Whale King, had a gentle smile on his face.
He was the most handsome middle-aged man in the novel. The author seemed to have put his soul into this character, as the novel took four lines to describe Shickler’s appearance.
‘I can see why the author did that.’
But it wasn’t like your appearance would feed you. Cale just needed to take in what he needed to take in.
“The south is much warmer, isn’t it?”
Shickler’s pupils started to cloud.
‘He is just as Witira described.’
His daughter, Witira, had said that Cale was a weak yet strong person. As she mentioned, he was the weakest person on the deck but had no issue being confident.
“The south is good as well. Thank you for saving my son. I came with my daughter because I wanted to personally thank you.”
“No need for such thanks. I just did what I needed to do.”
Cale smiled gently as he reached his hand out respectfully. What would be the point of having a long discussion so late at night?
“Since we are both busy people, shall we get right to the point?”
“Sure. But you see..”
Shickler let out a small sigh. Cale did the same before reaching his hand out.
“Choi Han.”
Tap.
Cale put his hand on Choi Han’s shoulder.
Shickler did a similar action.
“Archie.”
For some reason, Archie and Choi Han were staring at each other. What beef would two people who had met for the first time have with each other? Cale put some strength into the hand on Choi Han’s shoulder and Choi Han looked toward him.
Choi Han was mesmerized by the Whale tribe’s beauty a moment ago, so what would have made him so angry? This ship would sink with a single slash of his sword if Choi Han started to fight on the ship.
“What is it?”
“...Cale-nim.”
Choi Han bit down on his lips. At that moment, someone gave Cale the answer. As usual, it was the Black Dragon, Raon.
- That Whale checked you out from head to toe! How dare he!
Cale could hear Raon huffing as he turned away from Choi Han.
Archie. Archie was even worse than Toonka. You know, the ones who are on the good side but always cause trouble? Archie was that type of character.
He was someone who only pledged his allegiance to Shickler and did not even care about anybody else, including other members of the Whale tribe. He was the troublemaker of the Whales. Cale finally made eye contact with Archie.
‘Mm.’
Cale held back his groan. Archie really was looking at him with vicious eyes. Why was this punk acting like this? However, the answer was pretty obvious.
‘Probably because I made Shickler personally come to meet me.’
Archie didn’t care about the fact that Cale had saved Shickler’s son nor the fact that he helped out the Whales with the mermaids. Cale stiffened up a bit after looking into the vicious eyes of someone who was even stronger than Witira.
Shickler could see Cale stiffen up and urgently started to glare at Archie. He had told Archie not to do this multiple times, but Archie never seemed to listen.
“Archie, enou-.”
Shickler stopped talking and turned his head.
‘Father, young master Cale is very odd. It was only for a moment, but he felt really big.’
He recalled what Witira had said as he looked at Cale. He could see that Cale was once again standing leisurely, as if he had never stiffened up in the first place. However, the atmosphere around Cale was different. He finally understood why his daughter had said that Cale was strong.
A gaze that seemed so deep that they could not fathom the deepness was aimed toward Archie. Choi Han, who had been watching from the side, subconsciously stopped frowning.
“...Cale-nim.”
He then subconsciously called out to Cale as well, but Cale did not look at him. Choi Han oddly felt like that was only natural. Cale’s gaze was dominating and only looked forward. The atmosphere around Cale also captured everyone’s attention.
It was different from a strong pressure. It was gentle yet firm, making it difficult to approach. It was because Cale was frowning.
‘My body is responding on its own.’
The Vitality of the Heart responded to the pressure from Archie, making a bit of the Dominating Aura come out as well.
The two powers working together made it possible for him to escape the strong pressure from Archie.
Cale slowly started to speak.
“Who are you?”
Since it was like this anyway, he might as well squash him right now.
Cale did not like Archie’s gaze and slowly moved forward.
Creak. Creak.
The wooden planks on the deck creaked with his every step.
“Just who do you think you are.”
The Dominating Aura revealed about half of its strength. Exactly half a step. Cale stopped in front of Archie and asked in a blunt manner.
“That you dare to stare at me like this?”
Archie could not speak. He was definitely a bit taller than Cale, but it felt like Cale was looking down at him.
Cale had definitely looked weak and he still felt like he would be able to kill Cale with a single hand, but he could not move.
Archie could see the corner of Cale’s lips starting to gently go up. Cale could also see that Archie’s gaze had softened up, and so he coldly answered.
“If you can’t even answer that question.”
Archie could tell that the man in front of him, Cale, was looking down at him.
“Then don’t get caught staring like that.”
Cale and Archie stared at each other in silence for a few seconds until Archie’s foot took a step backward. At that moment, Cale put away the Dominating Aura and started to smile as he looked toward Shickler.
“Isn’t that right, your majesty?”
Cale did not want to fight with them since they would see each other a few more times in the future and they still needed to make some deals with each other. That was why he had only used half of the Domnating Aura and was now looking toward Shickler with the brightest smile he could muster.
“...Indeed.”
Shickler answered after a few moments and grabbed onto Archie’s shoulder with a very strong grip.
“Apologize and introduce yourself.”
Cale knew how Shickler had domesticated the troublemaker Archie. He beat him up. He beat up him so much that the entire ocean seemed to be filled with dust. He really beat him to a pulp while saying that a beating was the best medicine for a troublemaker. [1]
Archie then came back to his senses and became Shickler loyal subordinate. That was why Cale knew that Archie would not hurt him even though he was glaring at him.
Cale could see Archie bowing his head without looking at him.
“...I apologize.”
It was a very quiet voice. He really didn’t want to apologize. At least, that was what Cale thought as he glared at Archie. Archie quickly avoided his gaze when their eyes met.
“My name is Archie.”
“Alright. I am Cale Henituse.”
He then heard Raon’s voice in his head.
- Human, you seemed almost as strong as the tip of my toenail just now. Good job! Very good job!
Cale held back his sigh at this charisma that was complimented by a 4-year-old before gently reaching his hand out to Shickler, who was blankly staring at him.
“Please give me the package.”
“Ah, right.”
The oddly frazzled Shickler seemed to have lost the regalness of a king and turned into a neighborhood uncle. That was how he was once you became close to him. Shickler looked toward Witira.
“Young master Cale.”
“Long time no see. The package?”
Witira was relieved that Cale was still the same.
‘Relieved? Me?’
She was shocked for a moment, but calmed herself before handing the package over. There were a total of three items that were now in Cale’s hands. One of them was a small bottle with only the Dragon’s dead mana contained inside, with the poison having been removed.
Dead mana. This was very dangerous for a living person who did not have the darkness affinity. That was why Shickler was curious.
“But why do you need this dead mana? There should be no humans who need it. Well, maybe the necromancers of old may find it useful, but there are none of them left. I don’t know what you plan to do with this small amount.”
Cale put on a mischievous smile.
“Who knows.”
What Cale needed was just this small amount. Cale put all the items into his magic bag and discussed a couple things with the Whale royalty before saying goodbye.
“See you again next time. I apologize once again for Archie’s actions today.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, I insist. It’s because that punk still has a lot to learn.”
“...Father.”
Witira called out to calm her father before speaking to Cale.
“See you again next time, young master Cale.”
“Sure thing.”
He needed to see them multiple times since there were many ways he could still put them to use. Cale leisurely waved at the leaving Witira and Shickler, as well as the fidgeting Archie who said his goodbyes, before turning back toward his crew.
“Choi Han, what are you doing?”
“...Ah, nothing.”
Choi Han was shocked when Cale called out to him and vigorously shook his head. Cale walked past Choi Han, who had been standing there with a blank expression on his face for a while, and headed into the ship.
“I’m going to go sleep.”
The Black Dragon Raon, who was following behind Cale, abruptly turned his head around and started to speak to Choi Han.
“I am Raon Miru, the handsome, beautiful, great and mighty existence! Remember that!”
Choi Han stared at the extremely excited dragon before observing Cale, who was his usual relaxed self.
“...I need to get stronger as well.”
Choi Han’s voice disappeared into the ocean as he stood on the deck alone. Of course, if Cale had heard this, he would gasp in fear, thinking that an even stronger Choi Han would easily destroy this entire continent.
***
The next morning, Cale could see that Hong was grumbling next to the Black Dragon, who will now be called Raon.
“I like Raon, it is cool. But I think Ra-Hong would be nice too.”
On the other hand, the usually quiet On seemed to be excited, as she was happily walking circles around Raon.
“Raon Miru! Our youngest’s name is so good! It is the best!”
Cale, who had been watching this while laying on his bed in the ship, turned away as Raon continued to shout.
“Hey, Wolfie! I am Raon Miru! Hey, mage! I am Raon Miru! Choi Han!”
“I know your name already.”
It was so much that even the usually nice Choi Han was answering like this.
Currently, Raon, the kittens, Choi Han, Lock, and Rosalyn were in Cale’s room. Raon approached Choi Han.
“If you know it, say it.”
“Sure, Raon.”
Raon started to smile. It was then that Choi Han turned toward Cale.
“Miru. How did you come up with that last name?”
Choi Han had an odd expression on his face. Cale understood the reaction. Choi Han did not seem to know the pure Korean, ‘Raon,’ but he seemed to know, ‘Miru.’
“Something I made up?”
“Made up?”
“Yes. I suddenly thought of that word when I looked at Raon. It just popped into my head. It was a very interesting experience.”
Cale just casually answered as he continued to eat grapes while laying down. He then asked Choi Han as calmly as possible.
“Why do you ask?”
“Nothing. It was just interesting.”
Choi Han’s gaze was filled with nostalgia. It was because the name was pure Korean. He nodded his head and started to speak to Raon.
“Raon Miru. It is a cool name.”
Raon pretended not to hear what Choi Han had said, although his wings were fluttering with joy. Cale nonchalantly observed this before looking out the window toward the ocean. He hoped to arrive at the Whipper Kingdom soon.
They arrived at the smallest port in the Whipper Kingdom in a few days, as Cale had wished. There was someone there to greet them, the most important player for this transaction.
“Young master-nim!”
The even chubbier Billos now further resembled a piggy bank. He jumped onboard to greet Cale on the deck. Billos seemed to be much lighter than his actual weight, as he agilely jumped on board as soon as the ship stopped.
“Aigoo, young master-nim, I hope you didn’t get seasick?”
- Seems like he is trying to suck up to you.
But Cale actually really liked how Billos was acting. Cale patted Billos’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“Time to catch a big fish?”
Billos started to smile so widely that his eyes almost disappeared.
“I will just trust you, young master-nim.”
The Magic Tower will be destroyed and the liege of the Magic Tower will be ripped to shreds by Toonka. All of the mages inside the Magic Tower will be killed, however, the liege of the Magic Tower was a greedy person.
Cale looked toward the messed up port that was very different from the ports of the Roan Kingdom and casually said aloud.
“Treasure hunts are so fun.”
As long as you find the treasure, that is.
Teaser